Examples of analysis methods that require temperature changes during the process of sample preparation include isothermal gene amplification techniques such as NASBA, LAMP, and TMA. Such gene amplification techniques necessitate a process of changing nucleic acid conformation via heating prior to the amplification reaction, in order to attain stable analysis results. Since a nucleic acid amplifying enzyme is likely to lose activity at high temperatures, a process of cooling the heated reaction solution to at least the reaction temperature for enzyme amplification is further required. Also, the speed of such temperature changes is associated with analysis duration or efficiency of a nucleic acid conformational change. Accordingly, it is preferable that such temperature changes be completed rapidly.
The aforementioned analysis methods generally involve the use of the Peltier device in order to realize rapid temperature changes, and these methods realize rapid temperature changes using voltage shifts. In order to efficiently realize such temperature changes for a plurality of samples, further, it was general practice to prepare samples by a batch process that collectively treats a plurality of samples.
JP Patent Publication (kokai) No. 06-281655 A (1994) or 08-271524 A (1996) discloses an automatic analyzer that analyzes blood or the like with the use of an antigen-antibody reaction and comprises a plurality of incubators.
JP Patent Publication (kokai) No. 06-277036 A (1994) discloses an incubator that controls the temperature of a nucleic acid sample by transporting a reaction block carrying a plurality of tubes between a heating block and a cooling block and bringing the lower surface of the reaction block into contact with the heating or cooling block.